Work of cult leader wanted by Indian police promoted in Parliament’s Diwali pamphlet

The page next to the ad featured photos of members of the HFB, an umbrella group representing more than 300 organisations, with Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer and other dignitaries.

Also printed on nearby pages were messages of support for the HFB from Lord Rami Ranger, President of the British Sikh Association; and Bob Blackman, Conservative MP for Harrow East and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Hindus; along with a photo of Prime Minister Sunak with a member of the HfB.

At the event was Nithya Atmadayananda, a prominent supporter of Nithyananda, who was photographed with several dignitaries, including Mr Blackman.

Hours after the event, Kailasa UK tweeted: “By the grace of SPH Sri Nithyananda, Kailasa UK joined and celebrated Diwali with [HFB] today in the House of Lords. Thank you Truptiben Patel, Velji Bhai, Pravin Bhai, Harsha Shukla, Lord Rami Ranger, Lord Navnit Dholakia, Rt. Dear Bob Blackman and team for this auspicious invitation!”

Kailasa had earlier presented one of its “faith and worship awards” to Trupta Patel, president of the HFB, for her work.

Ms. Atmadayananda’s presence and the appearance of the ad came despite the fact that Nithyananda has been wanted by police in the Indian state of Gujarat since November 2019 in connection with allegations of rape and the alleged holding of children captive at his religious retreat in Ahmedabad for the purpose of collecting donations.

The children claim that they were tortured

Two children, aged nine and ten, applied for the retreat, called the ashram and told the police that they had been tortured, forced to work and held illegally in an apartment in the city for more than 10 days. Two other children rescued from the ashram made similar allegations in a complaint filed by their parents.

Gujarat Rural Superintendent of Police RV Asari said at the time, “Swamy Nithyananda fled the country after a rape case was registered against him in Karnataka.”

The Henry Jackson Society research group said the HFB appeared to have failed to exercise due diligence, giving the impression that it was supporting Kailasa, which risked creating friction between religious groups.

Charlotte Littlewood of the HJS said: “Community organizations need to question who they are supporting and ensure that their actions do not create tension.”

Nathyananda applied to the United Nations for recognition of his new country, Kailaas, claiming that threats to his life had forced him to flee India.

The health worker, who is in her 40s, told The Telegraph that she and her mother became involved with Nithyananda’s organization in 2016, at a time when both were emotionally vulnerable after the recent loss of their father.

Lack of food and sleep

He claims that his followers spend long hours meditating while lacking sleep and food in order to reach a higher level of enlightenment, making them vulnerable to indoctrination.

“We now realize that this is all carefully designed to suck us in and indoctrinate us into a cult that will serve its purpose,” the GP said.

She was forced to drop legal proceedings against Nithyananda and Kailasa in the US, where they have their international headquarters, due to costs.

Lord Rami Ranger said he had no knowledge of Nithyananda or his activities and that HFB was only facilitating the hosting of the event in its role as a peer.

He said, “I do not know Kailasa or this person. Had I known, I would never have attended an event promoting such unsavory characters.”

Ms Patel said: “As far as we know, this organization has done a good job serving the community and making a positive contribution to this country.

“In terms of advertising, any validly registered organization can support a Diwali event by placing an ad in a brochure, it promotes positivity and there was no reason not to accept the ad.”

Nithyananda’s UK lawyers deny all the allegations against him, saying he is being unjustly persecuted because of “homophobia by conservative and fundamentalist figures in India”. They also pointed out that he did a lot of charitable work, founding “many temples, schools and monasteries”.